28 Bible Verses about Motives, Examples Of

Some indeed even preach Christ because of envy and strife, and some also of good will. Those, indeed, preach Christ out of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds. But these others preach in love, knowing that I am set for the defense of the gospel.read more.
What then? Nevertheless, in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached. And I rejoice in this. Yet, also I will rejoice.

And Saul's daughter Michal loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. And Saul said, I will give her to him, so that she may be a trap to him, and so that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. And Saul said to David a second time, Today you shall be my son-in-law. And Saul commanded his servants, Talk with David secretly and say, Behold, the king delights in you, and all his servants love you. And now be the king's son-in-law.read more.
And Saul's servants spoke these words in the ears of David. And David said, Is it a light thing to be a king's son-in-law, since I am a poor man and of little worth?

And it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel. And Jehovah said to my father David, Because it was in your heart to build a house to My name, you did well that it was in your heart. Only, you shall not build the house, but your son who shall come out of your loins, he shall build the house to My name.

And it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel. But Jehovah said to David my father, Because it was in your heart to build a house for My name, you did well in that it was in your heart. But you shall not build the house; but your son, who shall come forth out of your loins, shall build the house for My name.

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was this way (for His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph) before they came together, she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. But Joseph, her husband to be, being just, and not willing to make her a public example, he purposed to put her away secretly. And as he thought upon these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take to you Mary as your wife. For that in her is fathered of the Holy Spirit.

And his brothers were jealous of him. But his father observed the saying.

And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him. And they said to one another, Behold, this dreamer comes. Therefore come now, and let us kill him, and throw him into some pit, and we will say some evil beast has devoured him. And we shall see what will become of his dreams.read more.
And Reuben heard, and he delivered him out of their hands and said, Let us not kill him. And Reuben said to them, Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him (in order to rescue him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again). And it happened when Joseph had come to his brothers, they stripped Joseph out of his tunic, the tunic reaching to the soles of his feet that was on him. And they took him and threw him into a pit. And the pit was empty, with no water in it. And they sat down to eat bread. And they lifted up their eyes, and looked. And behold, a company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead, with their camels bearing spices and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. And Judah said to his brothers, What profit is it if we should kill our brother and hide his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him. For he is our brother, and our flesh. And his brothers listened. And men, Midianites traders, came by. And they drew up Joseph and took him out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they brought Joseph into Egypt.

So says the Lord Jehovah: Because the Philistines have taken vengeance; yes, have taken vengeance with spite in their soul, to destroy with never-ending enmity, So the Lord Jehovah says this: Behold, I will stretch out My hand on the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites, and will destroy the rest of the sea coast.

So the Lord Jehovah says this: Surely in the fire of My jealousy I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Idumea, who have given My land to themselves for a possession with all joy of heart, with scorning of soul, to make it open land for a prey.

Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, inquired of them exactly what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child. And when you have found him, bring me word again so that I may come and worship him also. When they had heard the king, they departed. And lo, the star which they saw in the east went before them until it came and stood over where the child was.read more.
And seeing the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And coming into the house, they saw the child with Mary His mother. And they fell down and worshiped Him. And opening their treasures, they presented gifts to Him, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. And when they had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise and take the young child and His mother and flee into Egypt. And be there until I bring you word, for Herod is about to seek the child to destroy Him.

Then said one of His disciples (Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who was to betray Him) Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor? He said this, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief and held the moneybag and carried the things put in.

And he said to him, Go in peace. And he went away from him a little way. And Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master has spared Naaman the Syrian, in not receiving at his hand that which he brought. But, as Jehovah lives, I will run after him and take something from him. And Gehazi followed after Naaman. And Naaman saw him running after him, and descended down from the chariot to meet him. And he said, Is all well?read more.
And he said, All is well. My master has sent me, saying, Behold, this now, two young men from Mount Ephraim of the sons of the prophets have come to me. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothing. And Naaman said, Be content, take two talents. And he urged him and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing. And he laid them on two of his servants. And they carried them before him. And he came to the hill, and he took from their hand and stowed them in the house. And he let the men go, and they departed. And he went in and stood before his master. And Elisha said to him, Where from, Gehazi? And he said, Your servant did not go here or there. And he said to him, Did not my heart go with you when the man turned again from his chariot to meet you? Is it a time to receive silver and to receive clothing and olive-yards and vineyards and sheep and oxen and menservants and maidservants? And the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your seed forever. And he went out from his presence as leprous as snow.

For there are indeed many unruly men, vain talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouth you must stop, who subvert whole houses, teaching things not right for the sake of ill gain.

And the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh returned. And they departed from the sons of Israel out of Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead, to the land of their possession, in which they have possession, according to the Word of Jehovah by the hand of Moses. And when they came to the borders of Jordan in the land of Canaan, the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh built an altar of grand appearance there by Jordan. And the sons of Israel heard, Behold, the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh have built an altar opposite the land of Canaan, in the borders of Jordan, at the passage of the sons of Israel.read more.
And when the sons of Israel heard, the whole congregation of the sons of Israel gathered themselves at Shiloh to go to war against them. And the sons of Israel sent Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest to the sons of Reuben, and to the sons of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, and with him ten rulers, a ruler from each of the chief houses throughout all the tribes of Israel. And each one was a head of the house of their fathers among the thousands of Israel. And they came to the sons of Reuben, and to the sons of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them saying, So says all the congregation of Jehovah: What trespass is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away today from following Jehovah, in that you have built an altar for you so that you might rebel this day against Jehovah? Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we have not been made clean until today? Yea, a plague came on the congregation of Jehovah! But must you turn away today from following Jehovah? It shall be, you rebel today against Jehovah, and tomorrow He will be angry with all the congregation of Israel. But surely if the land of your possession is unclean, pass over to the land of the possession of Jehovah in which Jehovah's tabernacle dwells, and take possession among us. But do not rebel against Jehovah, nor rebel against us in building an altar for yourselves besides the altar of Jehovah our God. Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a sin in the cursed thing, and did not wrath fall on all the congregation of Israel? And that man did not perish alone in his iniquity. And the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh answered and said to the heads of the thousands of Israel, Jehovah, the God of gods, Jehovah, the God of gods shall know, and Israel shall know if it is in rebellion or in transgression against Jehovah (you shall not save us alive today), that we have built us an altar to turn from following Jehovah. Or if we have built an altar to offer on it burnt offering or food offering, or if to offer peace offerings on it, let Jehovah Himself require it. And if we have not done it for fear of this thing, saying, In time to come your sons might speak to our sons, saying, What have you to do with Jehovah, the God of Israel? For Jehovah has made Jordan a border between us and you, sons of Reuben and sons of Gad. You have no part in Jehovah. And your sons shall make our sons stop fearing Jehovah. And we said, Let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice, but it shall be a witness between us and you, and our generations after us, so that we might do the service of Jehovah before Him with our burnt offerings and with our sacrifices and with our peace offerings; so that your sons may not say to our sons in time to come, You have no part in Jehovah. And we said that when they should say so to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say, Behold the pattern of the altar of Jehovah which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings nor for sacrifices, but it is a witness between us and you. Far be it from us that we should rebel against Jehovah and turn this day from following Jehovah, to build an altar for burnt offerings, for food offerings, or for sacrifices, besides the altar of Jehovah our God that is before His tabernacle! And Phinehas the priest, and the rulers of the congregation and heads of the thousands of Israel with him, heard the words that the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the sons of Manasseh spoke. And it was good in their eyes. And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the sons of Reuben and to the sons of Gad and to the half tribe of Manasseh, Today we see that Jehovah is among us, because you have not committed this sin against Jehovah. Now you have delivered the sons of Israel out of the hand of Jehovah. And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the rulers, returned from the sons of Reuben, and from the sons of Gad, out of the land of Gilead, to the land of Canaan, to the sons of Israel, and brought them word again. And the thing pleased the sons of Israel. And the sons of Israel blessed God and no more said to go up against them in battle, to destroy the land in which the sons of Reuben and Gad lived. And the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad proclaimed regarding the altar, that it was a witness between us that Jehovah is God.

And the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle. And when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, behold, the place was a place for cattle. And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben came and spoke to Moses and to Eleazar the priest, and to the rulers of the congregation, saying, Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon,read more.
the land which Jehovah struck before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and your servants have cattle. And, they said, If we have found grace in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession; do not bring us over Jordan. And Moses said to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben, Shall your brothers go to war, and shall you sit here? And why do you break the heart of the sons of Israel from going over into the land which Jehovah has given them? So your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. For when they went up into the valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they broke the hearts of the sons of Israel, so that they should not go into the land which Jehovah had given them. And Jehovah's anger was kindled at that day, and He swore, saying, Surely, none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and up, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not fully followed Me, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have fully followed Jehovah. And Jehovah's anger was kindled against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years until all the generation which had done evil in the sight of Jehovah was destroyed. And behold, you are risen up in your fathers' stead, an increase of sinful men, to add still more to the fierce anger of Jehovah toward Israel. For if you turn away from after Him, He will yet again leave them in the wilderness. And you shall destroy all this people. And they came near to him and said, We will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones, but we ourselves will go ready armed before the sons of Israel until we have brought them to their place. And our little ones shall live in the fenced cities because of those who live in the land. We will not return to our houses until the sons of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance. For we will not inherit with them on the other side of Jordan, or forward, because our inheritance has fallen to us on this side of Jordan, eastward. And Moses said to them, If you will do this thing, if you will go armed before Jehovah to war, and all of you will go armed over Jordan before Jehovah until He has driven out His enemies from before Him, and the land is subdued before Jehovah, then afterwards you shall return and be guiltless before Jehovah and before Israel. And this land shall be your possession before Jehovah. But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against Jehovah. And be sure your sin will find you out. Build cities for your little ones and folds for your sheep, and do that which has come out of your mouth. And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben spoke to Moses saying, Your servants will do as my lord commands. Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle, shall be there in the cities of Gilead. But your servants will go over, every man armed for war, before Jehovah to battle, as my lord says. So regarding them Moses commanded Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the chief fathers of the tribes of the sons of Israel. And Moses said to them, If the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben will go with you over Jordan, each armed to battle before Jehovah, and the land shall be humbled before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession. But if they will not go over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben answered, saying, As Jehovah has said to your servants, so we will do. We will go over armed before Jehovah into the land of Canaan, so that the possession of our inheritance on this side Jordan may be ours. And Moses gave to them, to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben, and to the half the tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land with its cities in the borders, the cities of the land all around.

And it happened after this, the king of the sons of Ammon died, and his son Hanun reigned in his stead. And David said, I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father showed kindness to me. And David sent to comfort him for his father, by the hand of his servants. And David's servants came to the land of the sons of Ammon. And the leaders of the sons of Ammon said to Hanun their lord, Do you think that David honors your father, that he has sent comforters to you? Has not David sent his servants to you to search the city, and to spy it out, and to overthrow it?read more.
And Hanun took David's servants and shaved off half their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle, to their buttocks, and sent them away.

And it happened after this, Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon died. And his son reigned in his place. And David said, I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father showed kindness to me. And David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. And David's servants came into the land of the sons of Ammon to Hanun, in order to comfort him. But the rulers of the sons of Ammon said to Hanun, Is David honoring your father in your eyes, because he has sent comforters to you? Have not his servants come to you to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?read more.
And Hanun took David's servants and shaved them, and cut off their garments in half, to the buttocks, and sent them away.

And the king of Syria said, Go, go in and I will send a letter to the king of Israel. And he departed and took with him ten talents of silver and six thousand of gold, and ten changes of clothing. And he came in with the letter to the king of Israel, saying, And now when this letter has come to you, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to you. And you shall recover him of his leprosy. And it happened when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends to me to recover a man from his leprosy? For consider now, and see, for he is coiling himself toward me.

And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things which please Him.

Jesus said to them, My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.

For I came down from Heaven, not to do My own will but the will of Him who sent Me.

Therefore when He comes into the world, He says, "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but You have prepared a body for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have had no pleasure. Then I said, Lo, I come (in the volume of the Book it is written of Me) to do Your will, O God."

Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened; burnt offering and sin offering You have not asked. Then I said, Lo, I come, in the volume of the Book it is written of Me; I delight to do Your will, O My God; and Your Law is within My heart.

For our exhortation to you was not of error, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile, but as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God, who tries our hearts. For neither at any time did we use flattering words, as you know, nor with pretense of covetousness; God is witness.read more.
Nor did we seek glory from men, neither from you nor from others, being able to be so with heaviness, as apostles of Christ.

For we are not as many, hawking the Word of God; but as of sincerity, but as of God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God.

Therefore we are also laboring to be well-pleasing to Him, whether at home or away from home. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive the things done through the body, according to that which he has done, whether good or bad. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men. But we are revealed to God, and I trust also that we are revealed in your consciences.read more.
For we do not commend ourselves again to you, but are giving you occasion to glory on our behalf, so that you may have it to answer those boasting in appearance, and not in heart.

Yet you did well in sharing my troubles. Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as regards giving and receiving, except you alone. For even in Thessalonica you sent once and again to my necessity.read more.
I do not say this because I desire a gift, but I desire fruit that may abound to your account. But I have all, and abound. I have been filled, having received from Epaphroditus the things which you sent, an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable and well-pleasing to God.

But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor. Yet I do not know what I shall choose. For I am pressed together by the two: having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.read more.
And having this confidence, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all, for your advancement and joy of faith, so that your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.